Cams.. Discussion, which may lead to a cheap group buy

16bit · Postby **16bit** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:25 pm

http://www.tomei-p.co.jp/_2003web-catal ... b8_en.html

is this them?

irwin83r · Postby **irwin83r** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:30 pm

Rob E wrote:Yep, im sure you could get a group discount. I would go the Tomei's or Tighe 805c.

Mania have Tighe Regrinds for $695 on an exchange basis.

The Tomeis can be had in Japan over the counter for around 700 bucks....but the best price i have for them shipped (1 set) is around $990

If we can get a few buyers i will see what price we can get on the Tomeis....i have a bit of a preference for these over the Tighes as are known to work well on a std ecu. I dont know how well the 805c's go with the std ecu however (talking about NA8)

yeah id be after nb8a ones.. my brother would probably be keen on a set also.

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Mon Dec 11, 2006 6:51 pm

Don't forget, that with the Tomei cams, on the NBs you also have to shell out for the shim-under lifter conversion too. So roughly the cost of the cams again.

NAs can use the stock HLAs, so it works out much cheaper.

irwin83r · Postby **irwin83r** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 5:19 pm

Babalouie wrote:Don't forget, that with the Tomei cams, on the NBs you also have to shell out for the shim-under lifter conversion too. So roughly the cost of the cams again.

NAs can use the stock HLAs, so it works out much cheaper.

damn....

now it makes sense why things seemed so cheap when whatsymagigit got his cams and ECU done at maztech..

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Wed Dec 13, 2006 6:59 pm

irwin83r wrote:
Babalouie wrote:Don't forget, that with the Tomei cams, on the NBs you also have to shell out for the shim-under lifter conversion too. So roughly the cost of the cams again.

NAs can use the stock HLAs, so it works out much cheaper.

damn....

now it makes sense why things seemed so cheap when whatsymagigit got his cams and ECU done at maztech..

The solution is staring you in the face....swap to an NA8

irwin83r · Postby **irwin83r** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:48 pm

Babalouie wrote:
irwin83r wrote:
Babalouie wrote:Don't forget, that with the Tomei cams, on the NBs you also have to shell out for the shim-under lifter conversion too. So roughly the cost of the cams again.

NAs can use the stock HLAs, so it works out much cheaper.

damn....

now it makes sense why things seemed so cheap when whatsymagigit got his cams and ECU done at maztech..

The solution is staring you in the face....swap to an NA8

hahaha
no

though i was looking for an NA8 when i was buying almost bought a black one on parra road but pulled out because the diff looked like it had a leak... now ive done a diff seal change on my borthers 5 and well... the seal cose 35 bucks and the job was easy as pie!

some times i wish i bought that na8 but then i remember how much sweeter the nb8a motor is :mrgreen:

as for buyin cams.... im out of money till mid jan :shock:

so mods are all on hold till next year :cry:

well major mods anyway

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Fri Dec 15, 2006 7:54 pm

irwin83r wrote:some times i wish i bought that na8 but then i remember how much sweeter the nb8a motor is

Not as sweet as an NA8 motor with cams

irwin83r wrote:as for buyin cams.... im out of money till mid jan so mods are all on hold till next year well major mods anyway

I dunno if I'd find that the power gain from cams is worth the money on an NB motor tho...firstly the hardware will cost twice as much, then you have to pay more in labour to get the valve clearance shims done (it's very fiddly and takes a few hrs). So for the $2k-ish it'll cost I'm not so sure if the 10kw justifies the cost?

irwin83r · Postby **irwin83r** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:20 pm

Babalouie wrote:
irwin83r wrote:some times i wish i bought that na8 but then i remember how much sweeter the nb8a motor is

Not as sweet as an NA8 motor with cams

irwin83r wrote:as for buyin cams.... im out of money till mid jan so mods are all on hold till next year well major mods anyway

I dunno if I'd find that the power gain from cams is worth the money on an NB motor tho...firstly the hardware will cost twice as much, then you have to pay more in labour to get the valve clearance shims done (it's very fiddly and takes a few hrs). So for the $2k-ish it'll cost I'm not so sure if the 10kw justifies the cost?

yeah i know what you mean...

though ill see how the bank looks in a month or so then have another think about it.. so many things i want to do to my car... so little money :frown:

i can see my self blowing around 10k on my car this year.. :shock:

Andy Wana · Postby **Andy Wana** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:29 pm

So are we gonna get a Tomie Pon cam (for the NA8) group buy organised?
After browsing thru the Tomei webpage, I am quite interested in getting one in my NA8
How much did you end up paying for yours, babalouie?

Boags · Postby **Boags** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:48 pm

Andy Wana wrote:How much did you end up paying for yours, babalouie?

About half the price of a turbo kit for about 1/5 - 1/4 of the gain. :mrgreen:

Think about what you want your car for. Babs has a good reason for not going turbo. If you want more power, there are a lot of different ways to go, and if you want bang for buck, cams aren't really the best way.

Just my 2c. And it's only my 2c cause I don't have heaps of cash to flash, hence, I'm a bang for buck kind of person.

Boags

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 1:28 am

Andy Wana wrote:How much did you end up paying for yours, babalouie?

I bought em over the counter in Japan, about $750 a couple of years ago from memory...here's some Poncams for Nissan that I found on a recent trip, which translates to about what I paid (this price is each btw!).

Boags'MX5 wrote:About half the price of a turbo kit for about 1/5 - 1/4 of the gain. Think about what you want your car for. Babs has a good reason for not going turbo. If you want more power, there are a lot of different ways to go, and if you want bang for buck, cams aren't really the best way.

Just my 2c. And it's only my 2c cause I don't have heaps of cash to flash, hence, I'm a bang for buck kind of person.

Boags

I have a great reason not to go turbo....when I rebuilt the engine I pumped the compression to 10.5:1 so it's not even possible

No regrets though, my personal opinion is that the MX5 suits a "rorty" (in every sense of the word) engine with lots of response and throaty sound. But they really didn't cost me much, $750 + $300 for installation and if anything the stock ecu works better with the bigger cams than with the stock cams, on an NA they are very cost effective IMHO if a mild gain is all you're after.

I like turbos though, and they have their place...the Luce is turbo of course, but that's a laid-back car for straightline duties rather than corner carving

green_comet · Postby **green_comet** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:17 am

so you can run the tomei's in an NA8 without having to go aftermarket ecu? Im getting interested..

Sheck · Postby **Sheck** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 10:21 am

Is there gonna be a cam gear group buy too? Keen on getting a set. Even though my cams are straight bolt in a set of cam gears to tune the torque curve better is a must. Getting sick of all the power commin on at 5 grand!! (boost comes on earlier but power isnt really there till later

)

Also do the 1.8 cam gears fit on the 1.6? There are a cheapish set on US ebay but they only make em for the 1.8

Cheers
Dave

Rob E · Postby **Rob E** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:37 pm

Boags'MX5 wrote:
Andy Wana wrote:How much did you end up paying for yours, babalouie?

About half the price of a turbo kit for about 1/5 - 1/4 of the gain.

Yep, you will get a great turbo kit for 1500 bucks

Babalouie · Postby **Babalouie** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 12:42 pm

green_comet wrote:so you can run the tomei's in an NA8 without having to go aftermarket ecu? Im getting interested..

Yes, you sure can...in stock form the ecu is a bit over-rich as you would expect, but the extra airflow from the hungrier cams seems to use up that excess fuel so it's a lot more optimal. I have to go check my dyno charts but IIRC with the stock cams the AFR was 11.4 in the top end but with the big cams it was about 12.

With stock cams there was a 6kw gain from tuning the ecu, but with the Tomeis in place the gain was only 3kw. With just the stock ecu, the power was 87rwkw which isn't too shabby. If I was doing it all again I'd just fit the cams with the std ecu and not bother with the piggyback ecu.